NEARLY 120 residents had to be evacuated from an old age home after a fire in the home at Durban’s North Beach on Monday morning.
Paramedics from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) joined members of the Durban fire department and Police Search and Rescue Unit, who were all involved in the operation.
EMS media liaison officer, Robert McKenzie said the home was fortunate because the fire was confined to the one section of the building. “A chimney, from the kitchen, was burning, fuelled by the old grease and oils lining the old chimney,” he said.
According to McKenzie, managers and staff at the home managed to evacuate about 120 residents, including several bed confined patients when the fire started. “Fortunately there were no injuries sustained by the occupants of the building and while some fire fighters extinguished the fire, others did a room to room sweep of the building, checking that everyone had been safely evacuated,” he added.
Fire fighters from the Durban fire department managed to extinguish the blaze. As the fire only affected one section of the building, which was away from the living areas, the residents were allowed to return to the building.
